Hong Kong Day 2

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One thing I am quickly learning about HK is that the consequence of having a great night life is that people do not get up early. It appears office workers do not wander in until about 10am and that shops don't often until 10:30am. Even the wet markets that sell produce don't get going until almost lunchtime! Normally, these markets are early morning events but not in HK. I was up and about quite early and with the sole goal of getting a coffee. I headed out towards Sheung Wan and went past a bustling dim sum restaurant with the old style carts. It was full, loud and chaotic and apparently of a dying breed. Dim Sum is becoming more civilised with many places replacing traditional carts with menu and computer ordering systems. A few blocks from my hotel I found a Starbucks which would be my staple coffee house during the entire stay in HK and Macau. The locals here drink a weak milky coffee (similar to Singapore) which did nothing for me so a good ol' triple shot latte from Starbucks was a lifesaver.

Sheung Wan itself was filled with heaps of restaurants and apartments. There is less commercial business out here west of Central and it is a bit of a glimpse of old hong kong with ugly square high rise apartments with people hanging washing out their windows (no balconies) on long poles. There was a whole street that sold basically nothing but herbal remedies and dried odds and ends. Some of this stuff is quite expensive and the Chinese swear by these remedies. I then found myself at the Shun Tak Centre which is home to the HK-Macau ferry terminal which I will be frequenting when I depart for Macau in a few days. From there I wandered back to the Airport Express station via the overhead walkways. As it was still before 9am, I thought I would go get breakfast from Tim Ho Wan which is the Michelin Starred dim sum joint in Mong Kok. However I would not have to make the trek to Mong Kok as they have a branch at the Airport Express station. I was there just as they were opening up and within 10 minutes the place was filled ! There was probably room for about 40 people and they must intentionally not want to open big spaces. You can see the kitchen staff freshly making the various pastries which can be ordered from a paper menu sheet. There is not that big a range but what they do have is all excellent. I tried a few steamed dishes which were excellent, the pastry soft and the fillings fresh and generous. Their signature dish is a baked barbecued pork bun which was spectacular, it is hard to describe but the contrast between the crispy baked outside to the soft fluffy inside was memorable. The amazing thing about all this, is the price! It was ridiculously cheap, defintely the cheapest Michelin Star food you can get in the world.

To work off breakfast, I walked around the Graham St wet market which was starting up for the day. There were stalls lining both sides of a narrow alley that leads upwards from Queens Rd up to and along Gage Street. There were stalls selling fresh produce, freshly cut meats and live fresh seafood. If I lived in the area, this is where I would do my daily grocery shopping! One thing I can't get my head around is the fact that meat is cut and then hung outside without any refrigeration - how does it stay fresh especially in the hotter months? There were quite a few maids doing the shopping for their bosses and some must also double as nannies as they had somebody elses kids in tow.

As the fog had temporarily lifted, I made a beeline for the Peak Tram on the eastern side of Central. The queue wasn't too bad and within 15 minutes I was on the cable pulled tram to the top of the Peak. The views were magnificent even with a bit of fog hanging around. It makes you appreciate how humans adapt to survive, how the people of HK managed to transform a little patch of land on a moutainous rock into one of the busiest metropolis' in the world. The number of high rise buildings is simply staggering. The contrast in building designs through the years is very evident, as the buildings are mixed, with newer ones going up where older ones once stood. There is a mall up at the top of the Peak but the shops are definitely touristy and probably overpriced. One thing I did enjoy was having a coffee while soaking up the sun's rays and admiring the view over Central and across Victoria Harbour towards Kowloon.

My next stop was Causeway Bay which was a few stops east of Central on the MTR. This is one densely populated area and feels a little more edgier than Central. There are a few large malls thrown in to boot and plenty of well known restaurants. The area is full of hustle and there is plenty of redevelopment out at the shoreline with more land being reclaimed from the harbour. The same can be said of the Wan Chai area with plenty of reclamation going on near the shore. I took a walk around the famous Lockhart Road district which is like the Kings Cross of Hong Kong with plenty of girlie bars and nightclubs. The area is like any other during the day but I'm sure things get a little seedier when the darkness takes over.

For dinner I returned to the BBQ diner of last night and this time I tried the suckling pig which was pure bliss. The crackling was flavourful, the fat minor and the meat tender. It was cheap and evidently available everywhere unlike in Sydney where it is normally reserved for special occasions.

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